107th Airlift Wing Hosts Emergency Medical Drill as Part of Exercise Vigilant Guard

Media Advisory

NIAGARA FALLS AIR RESERVE STATION, NY (11/02/2009)(readMedia)-- Air National Guard medical personnel and Army National Guard medics based at Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station will practice their skills on simulated casualties evacuated from the former Spaulding Fiber Plant site in Tonawanda on Tuesday as part of Exercise Vigilant Guard. Members of the media are invited to attend.

WHO: Aeromedical personal from the New York Air National Guard's 107th, 109th and 105th Airlift Wings, the 174th Fighter Wing and 106th Rescue Wing and Army National Guard medical personnel from the 466th Area Medical Support Company and medevac helicopters flown by the New York Army National Guard.

WHAT: Media is invited to the Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station to cover Vigilant Guard activities to include the helicopter evacuation of simulated casualties from the Tonawanda Firemen's Park to the Niagara Falls Air Reserve Base and medical support operations.

WHERE: Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station

WHEN: 11:00 a.m. Tuesday, November 3, 2009. Please arrive at the Lockport Road Gate by 10:45 where you will be escorted onto the base.

Media Contacts: 107th Airlift Wing Public Affairs Office (716)236-2394 / Lt Col Deanna Miller (716)-236-3142.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

More than 1,300 National Guard troops and hundreds of local and regional emergency response professionals are participating in the largest joint emergency response exercise ever conducted in Western New York. The training involves search and rescue and recovery operations following a simulated earthquake in the region.

Vigilant Guard is a national exercise program sponsored by the National Guard Bureau and United States Northern Command to provide a joint training opportunity for National Guard and emergency response organizations to build relationships with local, state, regional and federal partners against a variety of different homeland security threats including natural disasters and potential terrorist attacks.

For Vigilant Guard Information contact Lieutenant Colonel Paul Fanning, New York National Guard at (518) 786-4581, Ellen Notarius, Erie County Executive's Office at (716) 858-8500, or Dennis Michalski, State Emergency Management Office (518) 292-2310. For daily updates, go to the Vigilant Guard journal at the New York National Guard website at http://dmna.state.ny.us/blog/journal.php?journal=1254502561

Follow Exercise Vigilant Guard on Facebook and Twitter:

FaceBook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/New-York-Army-National-Guard/112535293973?ref=search&sid=100000443776901.3155842963..1

Twitter: http://twitter.com/NationalGuardNY

Video will be available at:http://dmna.state.ny.us/video/ and on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/nynationalguard

The New York National Guard also has a Vigilant Guard journal microsite available at http://dmna.state.ny.us/blog/journal.php?journal=1254502561.